


ColdFlash- Reconciliation

by Higgies230



Series: ColdFlash- Soulmates [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-08-30 19:12:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8545723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higgies230/pseuds/Higgies230
Summary: Set directly after the end of ColdFlash- Soulmates. The events that transpire with the knowledge that Barry and Leonard where once everything to each other and Barry's acceptance of his continued love towards Captain Cold





	1. Reconcilation

It was the best thing in the world. That kiss in the woods, the two of them alone in their own quiet world surrounded by silent trees and soft shadows.Eventually they had pulled back for air, their foreheads pressed together, Len's warm breath tickling Barry's now tender lips. Len's arms were still wrapped around Barry's waist and Barry's own hand was caressing the back of Len's neck, fingers tracing the base of his skull and down the top of his spine. It was all... it was beyond words. It was relief and elation and a sense of love that was filling the speedster fit to burst. He had missed the older man so much. Much more than he would ever admit out loud, much more than he could stand to admit to himself.

  As he looked into Leonard's blue eyes he found that he couldn't think of all the bad those eyes been witness to, all the bad that the mind behind the eyes had been responsible for. All Barry could see was the evenings spent curled on the sofa or the mornings when Barry woke slotted into Len's side with his head on the older man's chest. The soft smile, the sly smile, the warm laugh and the gentle touches. All of the warm and happy memories that came swirling up from the recesses of Barry's brain, from the dark corner he had locked them away in all those years ago. All he could see was the best year of his life.

***

  It was with extreme reluctance that they parted. The two hadn't spoken a word since the kiss except for Barry suggesting they go. At some point they had broken eye contact in favor of closer contact, when they were pressed as close as possible, flush against each other with the speedster's face buried in Leonard Snart's neck.

   As soon as they lost that contact, Barry felt the cold hit him- even though it wasn't all too cool out in the night air. He looked at Len almost shyly before asking, "Do you want me to take you back to your bike?"

  Leonard looked at him as if calculating, planning- a Captain Cold expression. Barry had seen the look a thousand times before, it seemed to be an ingrained part of the man, but he had never seen this twist to that look while they were together. He couldn't quite put his finger of the emotion showing on the older man's face, leaking through the hard exterior, not until he spoke. Then Barry knew.

  "I am sorry," it was guilt. A quietly spoken revelation of the weight that Snart was carrying." I killed that man those years ago... I knew your feelings on that kind of thing. I... I put you in a place I shouldn't have.

  "I thought that... that thing that- that just happened. I thought that would be enough to say that I forgive you for not understanding or whatever it is that you think you've done wrong. Even though there was nothing to forgive and I was stupid and selfish and... and scared," he was blabbering, something that he never did- something which showed Barry just how desperate for forgiveness he was. Plus he had admitted to being scared- Leonard Snart said he had been scared?

  "I said it before and I will say it again Bear, you have a heart that is too big for this world,"he said that part calmly and Barry stood there watching him, unsure of how to react. The only thing that he knew was that he wanted to hold the blue eyed man again, to be held by him. He didn't want Len to hurt because of him.

  "I don't know why I did that." Len stated quietly all of a sudden, running a hand over his head and turning slightly away from Barry. Closing himself down to emotion as he had so often done those years ago when they got too big.

  "What? Shouldn't have done what Len?" Barry asked quietly, heart hammering in his chest with fear that the man before him would pull so far away that the speedster would not be able to reach him.

  "Kiss you. I shouldn't have kissed you. I shouldn't have been so cruel. I have been and will always be selfish, what you said earlier about this being your fault... no, no Barry. You never made me kill that man. You- you never made me try and- try and kill you. _I tried to kill you Barry!"_ the tears were back, they dripped without restraint down Len's face.

  It was wrong, that was just wrong. His Len never cried, never ever. He was the strongest human being Barry had ever met, he'd never cry unless he was being torn apart inside, the tears meant that he was hurting badly. Really badly. And Barry hated it, he wanted it to stop. He stepped closer to Snart again but this time the other man backed up. He knew that it was because of the guilt his ex felt, like he shouldn't be allowed to touch Barry, but that was not how the Flash felt and so for the first time since they had arrived, Barry used his speed- he flashed forward and grabbed Leonard's arm in a grip that was just on the equilibrium between gentle and firm.

  "I'll forgive you Len, if you forgive me," Barry told the older man, looking into his eyes with unwavering resolution.

  Those blue eyes met his and the steadfast determination in the green pair seemed to stabilize Len somewhat. At least the tears slowly stopped flowing at the touch and those already there had dried on his face, his eyes no longer wet. Instead of them, Barry saw true, raw remorse and sorrow. It was that look that strengthened Barry's resolve and threw away any doubts that he had previously had. No more doubts about what he was doing, why he was trying to console the person that he had tried to hate for so long. Leonard Snart still had a light shinning within him, Barry could see it, maybe if they had bumped into each other somewhere else under different circumstances the realization would have come sooner. A light that had survived the darkness that had been his childhood, Barry had seen it . A light that had survived the relentless assault against it in a ceaseless attempt to extinguish it. In other words, it had survived Lewis Snart.

That look... well Barry couldn't help it when he leaned in once more to press his lips against Snart's. He didn't push it, kept it light but it was Len who moved forward and deepened kiss as if the contact was a life line.

  That kiss was shorter than the first, their hands doing less exploration because Barry knew that they had to talk if they were going to do this. Should they even be doing this? Yes, they should, they really should...

  It was Leonard that spoke first, despite it being Barry with the plan to talk things through. "You are someone I love Barry," he spoke quietly, eyes staring at Barry's neck rather than his face. "You are one of very few that I have truly loved, one of three... one of three people. One of three... and you could have died. You could have died because of me. Because I wanted it."

  Barry looked at the man before him, studying his face before saying, "listen, I forgive you. I am alive, healthy and I don't have a mark on my body from where you have tried to... to hurt me. I am the one who should be being forgiven for not having faith in you."

  That last bit brought back the trademark smirk and Len lifted his eyes until he gazed straight at Barry. "Fine, I feel guilty and you are stupid enough to feel guilty so lets put that aside. Forget on both sides, ones guilt cancelling out the other," Len said and Barry couldn't help but smile the older man's characteristically logical words.

  "Sounds good," Barry nodded slowly and subconsciously began to stroke up and down Len's sides from where his hands had been resting. "My friends... they know about us. That we used to... to be a thing in the past. You kind of gave away to Cisco that we knew each other. It's just, I don't know what to say about this. And if, when these friends tell Joe... well."

  Snart smirked at him and, not for the first time, was glad that they were practically the same height so that he could look directly into Barry's eyes, " then don't tell them anything about this yet. I will try and keep out of the Flash's way as Cold for a while until we can get this sorted."

  "Thank you Len," Barry said," I guess I should go now." He smiled a little sadly and pressed a quick, chaste kiss on Len's lips before zipping him back to his bike and taking himself back off to S.T.A.R. labs.


	2. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Joe finds out about Barry's history with Len.

 

   Barry had... neglected to tell Joe about his previous relationship with Len even after the confrontation following Cisco's kidnapping. So it meant that it was perfectly reasonable that he was more than a little apprehensive when he entered the cortex at S.T.A.R. labs together with Joe the day after he had met with and kissed Leonard Snart.

  The tension was paramount in the room as soon as the CSI and detective entered. And of course that made Joe uneasy within a moment. Everyone standing around, none of the usual greetings and only Dr Wells seeming to be at ease.

"What's going on?" he asked straight away, looking between the other people in the room.

"Why don't you ask Barry," Cisco said bitterly, glancing up at the speedster and then back to Joe.

"Bear?" Joe looked to his adopted son, confusion and worry etched into every line on his face.

"It's really not anything Joe," the speedster lied automatically, glancing nervously at the others in the room. He could tell straight away that Joe wasn't buying a word, but then he would be a rubbish detective if he did.

"So how was your meeting with Cold? You were gone over an hour so it must have been good," Cisco glared.

"I don't see how it has anything to do with you," Barry said quietly, trying his best to control the building anger and nerves.

"Well, Mr Allen doesn't seem to want to spill the beans so to speak so, for the benefit if the team, I will tell you detective that your adopted son was once involved with Leonard Snart," Wells said, speaking directly to Joe.

"Excuse me, what?" Joe exclaimed turning to Barry with unmasked shock," tell me that's not true."

   All Barry could do was look at him sheepishly, offering a silent shrug and watch as the lines on Joe's face deepened.

"For "just over a year" I quote," Cisco said sourly making quotation marks in the air with his fingers.

"God," Joe huffed and then something seemed to dawn on him and he said," it was a couple of years ago wasn't it? Yes, a couple of years now. That time when you were getting distant, when you stopped coming to family nights and had all these stupid excuses."

"Yeah," was all Barry had with which to reply.

"But you- you were hurt after. I remember when you started coming to dinner and movie nights again. You moved stiffly- it was that scar wasn't it. Snart cut you, gave that scar to you!" Joe stated, not asking but telling Barry what had gone on in his past.

"No Joe," the speedster replied, trying his best to stay calm," until I was the Flash he never laid a hand on me. Think about it, his childhood was his dad beating on him, his sister and his mother. Do you think that he would then grow up and do those things himself?"

"Okay but it was a year. A year Barry! What the hell happened after a year to make you rethink?" Joe was almost begging.

   Barry subconsciously touched the scar through the material of his shirt, it was a quick, light gesture but it wasn't missed by anyone there.

"Can you tell us now how you got that scar Barry? It is obviously something to do with Captain Cold so you don't have to hide it anymore," Caitlin said in her soothing way.

"I really don't think it matters," the speedster said, feeling an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck.

"If it helps us understand our opponent then it matters Mr Allen," Wells said in an attempt to appeal to Barry's logical side.

"It doesn't matter. I can go and talk to him, make him listen. He doesn't have to be our "opponent"," Barry told them.

"No, no, no. That did not answer our question. All it told us was that you and Snart are friendly again- which we already guessed by the way," Cisco said, glaring at him with rage smouldering behind his eyes, an anger that only helped to fuel Barry's own.

"Look Cisco, you have no right to be angry at me for the actions of a man I dated years ago. A man that I hadn't spoken to as myself for more than two years! I've had no control over what he has done," the CSI almost yelled, almost- he still had the barest shreds of control. Because it was a lie, he could have stopped it those years ago and no matter what Len said he would not, could not, stop feeling guilty about that fact.

"I'm not angry because of that Barry! I am angry because you didn't tell us that you knew this dude, this man that was a threat to civilian lives!" It appeared Cisco even had less control over his emotions at that point in time than he had the previous day, the resentment still fresh and raw.

"I don't see that you need to know every little detail of my life. I know you run experiments on me and we look at how exactly the partial accelerator changed me but I am not some lab rat that needs ultra controlled environments or anything." Barry's voice was dangerously low, almost a growl and he raised a hand as Cisco opened his mouth, carrying on himself," I know what you are going to say, that the information would be good for the team, help the team et cetera but I gave you all of the information relevant!"

"Mr Allen, the fact that you and Leonard Snart were involved is relevant information- taking into account your emotions, which could then effect your actions," Wells and, as ever, his unfathomable wisdom stopped Barry in his tracks.

   There was a long moment where the silence stretched out through the room and then," who ended it Bear? You or him?" Joe said from behind him, making him jump as Barry had momentarily forgotten about his foster father's presence, too caught up in his fight with Cisco.

"What?" was Barry's reply, all of a sudden he was feeling very flustered and overwhelmed.

"Who ended it?" Joe asked again.

"Um, I did," the speedster told them without thinking, there wasn't much use in hiding it anyway.

"But why?" Caitlin begged.

   He couldn't be angry at her. Barry just couldn't bring himself to be angry at sweet, caring Caitlin, all she ever did was help people, so he told her," because he saved my life."

"What? That makes no sense!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Tell me about it," Barry said, trying to keep that guilt out of his voice, out of his face.

"So you feel guilty Mr Allen," Dr Wells said, stated not asked. Dammit, Barry cursed internally.

"I guess so," Barry admitted looking at the floor to avoid all of the pairs of eyes trained on him.

"Saved you from what Barry?" Joe asked putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"From the man who gave me the scar," the speedster confessed, pressing his palm to place just beneath his heart where the scar started as memories of that night flickered unbidden through his mind.

"What man?" Cisco asked, the anger had left his voice, his face, his stance and only curiosity was left.

   Barry could see the man clearly, the black mask pulled down to cover his features, the way he moved towards Barry with a murderous glee. His skin itched around the scar at the thought of the knife that the man had pulled on him. Not a good memory, not a memory that he wanted to share with his friends.

"Okay, we have gone full circle back to the start of the conversation where I didn't want to give details, it doesn't matter who the guy was, didn't know his name didn't know what his face looked like so it doesn't matter," Barry said calmly, the way it came surprising him more than anyone else considering the turmoil inside.

"I think we have a right to know about someone who did that much damage Bear," Joe said, gesturing at Barry's chest.

"I don't see the point if the guy is dead," Barry replied.

"Dead? Did Snart kill him?" Caitlin asked.

"Yes."

"So that's why you split," Cisco commented as if enlightened.

"Partly."

"And your not going to elaborate are you?" Cisco glared, folding his arms tightly over his chest.

"No, anyhow I have some speed I am meant to be improving, so let's focus on that instead," Barry said, moving away from Joe and making his way to the next room where the treadmill waited.


	3. Luckiest Man Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little meeting between Leonard and Barry

    Len was sat at his favorite table at Saints and Sinners, idly pushing chips around his plate. Just thinking. He and Barry had sometime come and sat at that table in the past, it was situated so that Len had a good view of the door, bar and the majority of the room. Even though he was surrounded with his own kind so as to say, he could never be curtain when he would need a quick get away; criminals after all weren't always the most trustworthy people. It was for the same reason that he hadn't brought his boyfriend... ex-boyfriend often for fear of conflict in occupation, even if Barry had previously forgiven him for his life choices. Somehow Len didn't think that the room full of men and women, all of whom had committed at least a few crimes, would take kindly to finding a CSI working for the CCPD in their midst even if Barry didn't  mind.

     No, this place was somewhere that he came mostly with Lisa and Mick. He came for business or to stave off some stress at the end of a week planning or executing heists, or in the case of that year with Barry, security work. He had to give it to him, the kid had tried to straighten him out but in the end the job with security had just improved his already vast knowledge on the inner works of secured areas. Often he would lie awake at night thinking of how he had failed his ex, how the man had seen the good in him, had tried to bring it out and how Len had pushed it away. More than anything he hated to think that it was because he was afraid of what that light meant that he pushed it away. It was the unknown and Len didn't  like the unknown.

     He decided to try and think about other things at that moment. Like bar fights. The other reason that Saints and Sinners was his favorite bar in Central. Leonard loved a good brawl at the bar and, let's face it, those weren't a rarity in places such as these. Criminals were fine with screwing people over but if people screwed _them_ over you'd know about it. He liked a good bar fight enough that if he was in the mood Len would start a fight, if not Mick was always raring for a bit of violence and Len might just join in with the... scuffles that his partner started.

   All of the memories that that bar held made it impossible for Captain Cold to hold back the small smile that curled his lips. They were good, there was a few bad- but those were mostly business transactions that fell through and nothing that affected his personal life. The smile that had graced his face was also there partly, well more than that, in anticipation of the man that he was meeting up with.

   Naturally Len had arrived bang on time and, equally as predictably, the other sat himself down opposite half and hour late. Len looked up at the younger man across from him and let the corner of his mouth twitch up. He couldn't quite believe this was actually happening.

   "Remember our first date Barry?" Len asked.

   "At Big Belly Burger, yes. Impossible to forget," Barry said, smiling openly. It was something that Len had missed intensely in the years since they had last parted so he drunk it up, letting a smile of his own form before continuing the conversation.

   Len hummed in reply and his smile turned into a smirk," the first and last time that you were early."

   Barry laughed as a slight blush crept up his neck at the same time," if I remember correctly I did warn you. You still chose to stay."

   "Yes I suppose you did," Len smirked again. It was like nothing had ever happened between them in that warehouse. The thief leaned across the table slightly and ran a long finger over the skin on the other's neck that protruded from his shirt, where the blush had turned it red.

  "I think that I will be able to call you Scarlet in and out of that suit."

   "I'm not sure how to reply to that," Barry chuckled, the blush deepening. Len let out a small breath, touching Barry had been a move fraught with risks- even after the events of the other day- but Barry had accepted the contact, Len could have sworn the other man even leaned into it slightly. He could have been imagining things though. He just hoped not.

   Len popped a chip into his mouth as the conversation died down a bit, offering some to Barry and the two sat in silence for a moment. Barry was watching him intently, green eyes scanning his face even as he picked up chips and ate them. Len found himself reveling in the gaze, something that was so familiar, the examination something that Barry used to do as they sat alone together as if he couldn't quite believe his eyes even then.

   "Why did you want to meet Len?" Barry said eventually.

   "Because you were right," was the thief's reply," we need to talk things through."

   The speedster nodded and that smile shone brightly again. Len felt ecstatic, he had always loved it when Barry smiled and there it was again. A genuine thing shown by the way those eyes lit up and crows feet appeared at the edges. He had another shot with the younger man, a man who, if he was honest with himself, had been the only one to ever really steal his heart. It made Len wonder which one of them at that table was the master thief.

   "Let's go for a walk, so we can talk away from this," Barry suggested gesturing at the noise and rumpus around them.

   "Sounds like a plan," Len agreed.

***

   The night air was cool and crisp, reminding Len of their very first date. Barry had sped them off to the shoreline, his speed making Len once more feel as if he had left his innards behind. The thin stretch of sand was empty at that time, the waves lapping sleepily at the land. The city lit up behind them. 

   Barry was walking close to his side, maybe because of the cold and perhaps because he wanted to be close, the thief hoped it was the latter. All he knew was that their shoulders and arms were almost touching, it was almost awkward so Len took another leap of faith and entwined his fingers with Barry's. The younger man looked down at their hands briefly and gave Len's a light squeeze. That small gesture made the Snart hesitate, still unsure if what was happening was real or not.

   "I don't know how this will work with you as the Flash and me a now known and very famous, or infamous, criminal," Len admitted, hating the words and hating the way they broke that peaceful quiet.

   "I don't know either, my friends- Cisco in particular- aren't to pleased with our past relationship. Though my cop dad seemed okay, he was more concerned about were I got my scar," Barry said glancing briefly at Len.

   "Scar? Is that the one from the warehouse?" Len asked with an empty feeling in his gut.

   He watched as Barry nodded, looking down at the sand and pebbles rather than him. Len could remember it clearly, the blood, how he had carried Barry to the van, how he had stitched up his unconscious form. How Barry had finally seen who, what, he was. And yet here he was. He hadn't really comprehended the fact that the wound would have scared for some reason, thought that maybe it would just fade to become part of the mess that that night at the warehouse was. Had hoped that had been the case.

   "We'll work it out though, I know we can. I didn't stop being with you because of what others thought last time. If that was the case then I would never have dated a man let alone a male criminal. But I dated someone who cared, who just wanted to do right by those he loved- just went about it through the wrong ways," Barry said, still not looking at him but rather seeming to find the sand and stones interesting.

   Len stopped walking then and Barry did too, pulled back by their still linked hands, turning to look at him in nervous confusion. Len untangled his hand from Barry's and used it to hold Barry's chin so that he could only look at Len while the other stoked the speedster's cheek. There was only honesty in those eyes, something that hadn't changed since the day that Leonard had first seen them, something that he hadn't ruined. Something that had resided stubbornly despite everything Barry had lived through. He then looked down at those lips, remembered the feel of them, the taste of them, both from years ago and just the other day. He wanted to taste them again though so he pressed his mouth against them, a quick peck before diving into a deeper, more passionate kiss which Barry returned with as much feeling, his arms coming up to wrap themselves around Len's neck. In that moment Len considered himself the luckiest man alive.


	4. Stay With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len can't continue to be a criminal if he wants to have a life with the Flash.

"We've worked things out," Barry told team Flash.

   They were all standing in the cortex two days after the kiss on the beach, not that anyone other than Barry and Leonard had any knowledge of that event. No one had mentioned Snart in those days and Barry wasn't going to ask for a topic like that to be brought up. Naturally it was Cisco that did. Asking whether Barry had sorted out the "problem" as he had promised. Which subsequently grabbed everyone's immediate attention.

   "He won't kill or hurt anyone as long as we don't arrest him," Barry told them what he and Leonard- his boyfriend?- had agreed on on the beach following their late night kiss, saying it out loud though made it sound a really lame deal. "Leonard will also stop stealing but he wants to ease out of it or something. So stopping slowly. We just can't arrest him in the mean time."

   "Like you would let that happen anyway," Cisco said, staring directly at the speedster.

   Barry rolled his eyes, he couldn't be bothered to fight over this anymore so he just said," you're right Cisco, I wouldn't. Because I haven't already sent him of to Iron Heights once already."

   "I have to ask Bear, if you know Snart, do you know his sister and Mick Rory?" Joe asked, partly through curiosity and partly to spare Barry from Cisco's probing. Whatever the purpose, the question took him off guard some what and so he only nodded.

   "Was that Heatwave bloke always so unhinged?" Cisco asked, seemingly happy to go along with the new subject.

  Barry let a smile grace his face then thankful to Joe and amused that Cisco had been so easily moved from his topic... even as the thoughts and memories than formed in relation to Len's best friend making him more than a bit uncomfortable.

   "Yep, he has always freaked me out," Barry said.

   "And your smiling about that, about spending time with a pyromaniac," Joe said incredulously.

   Barry just shrugged with another small smile before picking up his jacket and leaving for work. One thing he knew at that moment was despite the tension everywhere else, it was no longer inside him. The release of the truth had taken a massive weight off of his shoulders.

***

   It was dark outside the window. As dark as the city would allow with all of the street lamps, glowing lights and car headlights. But as well as the dark, it was cold.

   There had been a point after the warehouse fire, after he had been attacked by that man with the knife, that Barry hadn't been able to stand the cold. When he had just removed Leonard Snart from his life, when he had still been programming his mind to hate the man. At that point in time the cold had repulsed him. The cold was Leonard Snart. It was something that resided in the essence of the man, it was his. It reminded Barry of the man and the many memories went with it. Their first date. How the low temperatures had comforted Barry when Len wasn't around. How he had deliberately tested his boyfriend's tolerance of the cold by making his apartment bloody freezing and the smile, well more of a smirk, that lit up Len's face when he walked through the door and felt the temperature, realising what was going on. And the blue, those ice blue eyes that turned to him with something far from the cold that the colour would suggest. Snart even embodied it as an opposite to the extreme heat that was Mick Rory. In those times the cold had been a bigger comfort than anything, the cold opposing the heat, keeping it at bay, in complete contrast to the normal way of life.

   The... break up then meant that the cold represented everything wrong. Every mistake from that year. It was a nasty, unwelcome reminder of someone that he really, really wanted to forget. So Barry shunned it.

   Now there he was in the cold safe house and it was something familiar. It didn't feel as it once did, as a comfort or something special- it was just something he felt welcoming him. Certainly there was no repulsion in what he felt.

   The safe house was a poorly furnished two bed roomed house. He was currently kneeling in front of the sofa in the living room- the only piece of furniture other than a battered coffee table in the downstairs of the house. Len was sat on the sofa with hands on his face, Barry was kneeling between his legs, hands on Len's waist.

   "I am too much of a big time criminal, I can't go back," Len mumbled into his hands.

   Barry studied the older man's face, the frustration, confusion and regret painted there.

   "You know when we first met, you were secretive, a criminal as I later found out. But I saw you and I saw the light in you that you tried to hide. There is good in you Len, way back then before I knew anything that you had done and then it was still there even after I did. You don't have to admit it to me, but we both know it is there even now," Barry told the thief taking Len's hands from his face and replacing them with his own.

   Len looked up at the speedster, there was something in those blue eyes. Desperation? Leonard Snart really wanted to believe him. He brought his hands up so that one was resting on Barry's cheek, the other on the back of his neck. The thumb on his face stroking Barry's jawbone.

   The cold was all around them as they stared into each other's eyes. The silence stretched out as they did so, blue eyes and green eyes locked. It was something that had often come about those years ago, curled on their sofa or sprawled in bed. Just lost in one another. Barry would be and was looking at the other man and feeling the trust that had always felt before the fire. He had faith in Snart, he was a criminal now and he was when they had first met but he had already proven that he could turn from that path. He could do it again, Barry knew he could. Barry believed in him.

   "It's in my blood," Len said after what seemed an age, "My dad... You got me off of this path before but now... now I am even worse. I don't think... I don't think I am capable of truly changing Barry."

   "Do you love me," Barry said seemingly out of nowhere.

   The speedster sat up slightly, forcing Len to lean back the tiniest bit but at the same time bringing their faces closer together. Len looked at him with mixed emotion and Barry didn't blame him. They hadn't spoken about "love" since they had restarted this... thing.

   "I do... I do," Len nodded as if he was admitting something that he thought he shouldn't.

   "Okay, so you love me now and you loved me then," Barry started, biting his lip. He may have faith but if Len didn't then this would never work... so he had to change that and make this work, "You stopped last time because you didn't want to lose me, and I was just a CSI then, now I am CSI and the Flash. If you don't think you can do it for you, do it for me. I know that the circumstances are different now for you as well, you are Captain Cold not just Leonard Snart, but you are clever, clever enough to turn things around. Besides, blood? There is a part of you that knows you don't have to let your past define you, you're too clever for that, a part of you that really wants to be more than just a criminal. You've done it before, proven that part exists, that it is a large part. You've proven it to me, you've proven it to yourself. I believe in you Len, I believe in the light and the good," Barry smiled up at him, willing the older man to take his words to heart.

   The speedster pulled himself up further then until he was sitting in the older man's lap. Barry wrapped his arms around Len's neck while the hopefully soon to be ex-thief wrapped his arms around the CSI's waist. The younger man pressed his forehead against Len's upturned one and began to gently stroke the back of his head, through the short hair.

   "What should I do? Should I become a become a hero like you Barry? Because I don't know if that's possible," Len whispered, breath brushing against Barry's lips. Frustration was clear in his tone.

"I think that would actually be an idea," Barry said, to him the idea seeming all too logical,"time to show the whole city the good in you."

   Leonard pulled back a bit and scanned the other's face- seemingly to see if Barry was serious or not. Seeing the honesty in the younger face made a genuine smile pull up his lips.

   "I really do love you," he breathed.

   "I'm glad because I love you too, I never want you to go anywhere ever again," Barry told him, heart constricting slightly at the sincerity of the older man's words.

   "As long as you stay with me," Leonard replied.

   The blue-eyed man brought one hand up from Barry's waist to the back of his head. He pushed down gently until their lips met, just a press of soft flesh before Len pulled back and buried his face in Barry's neck.

   "Stay with me," he breathed into the speedster's collar-bone, only just audible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that chapter was a while coming, exams are a bitch.


	5. Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically an epilogue. It is the end.

It was on the news that night a week after they had come up with the idea. Captain Cold saving the day. Big headlines because it was such an uncharacteristic thing to do.  
There had been a fire, a genuine one that had nothing to do with Mick, and Len had been there to help. He had been pulling people out of the flames before the Flash had turned up (only slightly delayed). There had been children, a party of some kind in the apartment building and Captain Cold had managed to ferry every one of them out through the smoke and burning rubble.   
Headlines like "Hero Cold" and "Savior Snart" we're appearing in the newspaper, online and on the live news. The story was spreading just like Leonard and Barry had hoped.  
Team Flash as a whole hadn't been too keen on the idea of making Snart a hero. Cisco sat firmly with the belief that Snart was a villain and that he was too cold hearted to actually mean any of the good that he did. That it would all be an empty and false ploy. In the end it had been Caitlin adding her support to Barry's that had changed their minds.  
The news report, the rescue, it was only the start of their plan though. Barry was determined that Central City would see the light in Leonard Snart. See the light that shone so bright for him. They needed to see it because Cisco was wrong, the empty act wasn't the saving the day bit, the false impression that Leonard Snart Gaven over was his apparent love of being bad.  
The whole of Central City, and Cisco in particular were going to see just how amazing and good Leonard Snart was. Because Barry had never been as sure of anything until life as he was sure that Leonard was a good man.

***

Eight years later

  It had been years since anyone had seen Leonard Snart as anything other than a savior. He was still Captain Cold of Central City but no one seemed to remember the origin of that name because the things that Leonard Snart had stolen, the people he had kidnapped, hurt, killed... they were remembered by the families but there were more families that remembered him for the loved ones he had saved. All the acts of good that he had done had eclipsed the bad. Barry's goal had long ago been achieved: he had shown Central to good in the man he loved.  
On the shelves beside the Flash action figures stood the ones of Captain Cold and even Heatwave. The three were known to work together, wherever the Flash was there would be Captain Cold and Heatwave, where there would be Captain Cold there would be the Flash and Heatwave. They were the saviors of Central.  
The team and his family had all excepted Lenard as Barry's partner in life, had accepted him as one of them . Even Cisco had long since got over the business with Dante and the kidnapping. Leonard himself had come to realize that Barry was right about him and who he really was, what he really felt accomplished doing.  
Three years previously Len and Barry had gotten married. By that point the city had long ago accepted Cold as a hero, as had all of Barry's loved ones. Iris thought their relationship was adorable and Joe had gladly welcomed someone who had turned their life around so drastically, who made his son smile so much. It was at a point in there relationship where they had seen that there really was no backing out, that they had become two parts of a whole and that they wouldn't ever be without the other. Marriage just seemed to make that realization final. They had made it through all of the stressed over the years together, mopping up from Len's old life, the betrayal of Harrison Wells and then Jay Garrick who was really Hunter Zolomon. The death of Henry Allen... In the end they decided that really maybe they deserved the wedding.  
Their actual ceremony was quite, no one dressed up, no one felt the need. Barry Allen and Leonard Snart had practically been married for the past five years anyway. Joe, Iris, Cisco, Caitlin, Wally West, Harry, Jesse, H.R, Team Arrow, Lisa and Mick were all there. Barry just wished that his dad had been alive to see it, but Zoom had seen to that. It was just nice to tie the knot though, make everything even more really, tied firmly to reality... it was really nice. Everyone was so happy when the vows were said and the newlyweds had kissed. They were the ones that had survived, they were alive and a family. They were the ones that would stick together no matter what. It made it the happiest day ever for Barry, because despite the absence of loved ones like Eddie and his dad, those that were alive were all there, they were all still on the same path. They were all there including the people from his secret life those years before the Flash, he had joined everything he had loved, a sign that he had accomplished what he had set out to do.  
Through it all there was still the danger, it was the reason that Barry and Len had never got  kid. Out fighting there was always the chance that one night they just wouldn't come home, and that wasn't fair on a child. It didn't matter though because they had each other, all the risks they took just made each moment more precious. They were heroes and they had everything that they could ask for.

End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your support for this story and Soulmates. You guys are amazing :)

**Author's Note:**

> So I started writing this because so many of you asked for more when I finished the first part of this series, so I just hoped that this will be what you were looking for.


End file.
